Photo: Orange Suede Sofa · CC BY-SA 3.0Belfair’s library is a branch of Timberland Regional Library, which lends more per resident than 69% of systems its size
Belfair’s library is the North Mason Timberland Library, a branch of Timberland Regional Library, which serves 547,900 people and lent 5.2M items last year.
What stands out about North Mason Timberland Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Belfair’s civic life grade
Belfair isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Timberland Regional Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
Volunteering in Belfair
Belfair is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
7.8%
7.8% of Belfair’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.7% in the typical Washington town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Belfair’s residents live; 2022.
49% of borrowing is digital
5.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,563,949 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Timberland Regional Library serves 547,900 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Timberland Regional Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Timberland Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
About 47 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
North Mason Timberland Library, 23081 NE State Route 3, Belfair.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Timberland Regional Library branch.
New in Belfair? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Belfair cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $28M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $82M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $28M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 220,361 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Timberland Regional Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. North Mason Timberland Library is one branch of Timberland Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 547,900 people it serves.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Belfair
Does Belfair have a public library?
Yes: North Mason Timberland Library, 23081 NE State Route 3, is a branch of Timberland Regional Library, which serves 547,900 people. The branch is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Timberland Regional Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Belfair’s library?
It lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 5,219 programs that drew 92,311 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Belfair’s civic life grade?
Belfair isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Timberland Regional Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Belfair.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.